General Notes

Name: Rollo RAGNVALDSSON
Given Name: Rollo
Surname: Ragnvaldsson
NSFX: King Of Normandy
Name: Robert
Given Name: Robert
Surname:
Name: Hrollager (Hrollaug) Ragnvaldsson OF ICELAND
Given Name: Hrollager (Hrollaug) Ragnvaldsson
Surname: Of Iceland
Name: Rolf (Rollo) The Ganger Ragnvaldsson OF NORWAY
Given Name: Rolf (Rollo) The Ganger Ragnvaldsson
Surname: Of Norway
Name: Rollo "The Ganger" ROGNVALDSSON
Given Name: Rollo "The Ganger"
Surname: Rognvaldsson
Title: King Of Normandy
Sex: M
Birth: 846 in Maer, Norway
Christening: 912 Cathedral Rouen
Death: 927 in Rouen, France
Burial: Sacristy Of Notre Dame, Rouen, Chapel, Of St. Romanus
Ancestral File #: 9GDD-2H
Note: Early Settler Of Iceland.

Or:  HROLFR the GANGER (walker), GANGE-ROLV, ROLF, ROLLO OF NORMANDY;
andlater in life, ROBERT; also HRO'LFR

"The central fact of Norman history ... is ... the grant of Normandy andhis northern followers in the year 911.  ...  For the actual occurencesof that year, we have only the account of a romancing historian of ahundred years later, reenforced here and there by the exceedingly scantyrecords of the time.
The main fact is clear, namely that the Frankish king, Charles theSimple, granted Rollo as a fief a considerable part, the eastern part, oflater Normandy.  Apparently Rollo did homage for his fied in feudalfashion by placing his hands between the hands of the king, something, weare told, which "neither his father, nor his grandfather, nor hisgreat-grandfather before him had ever done for any man."
Legend goes on to relate, however, that Rollo refused to kneel and kissthe king's foot, crying out in his own speech, "No, by God!" and that thecompanion to whom he delegated the unwelcome obligation performed it soclumsily that he overturned the king, to the great merriment of theassembled Northmen.

...  As to Rollo's personality, we have only the evidence of later Normanhistorians of doubtful authority and the Norse saga of Harold Fairhair.If, as seems likely, their accounts relate to the same person, he wasknown in the north as Hrolf the Ganger, because he was so huge that nohorse could carry him
and he must needs gang afoot.  A pirate at home, he was driven into exileby the anger of King Harold, whereupon he followed his trade in theWestern Isles and in Gaul, and rose to be a great Jarl among his people.

The saga makes him a Norwegian, but Danish scholars have sought to provehim a Dane, and more recently the cudgels have been taken up for hisSwedish origin. To me the Norwegian theory seems on the whole the mostprobable, being based on a trustworthy saga and corroborated by otherincidental evidence.

... The important fact is that Norway, Denmark, and even more distantSweden, all contributed to the colonists who settled in Normandy underRollo and his successors, and the achievements of the Normans thus becomethe common heritage of the Scandinavian race.

The colonization of Normandy was, of course, only a small part of thework of this heroic age of Scandinavian expansion.  The great emigrationfrom the North in the ninth and tenth centuries has been explained inpart by the growth of centralized government and the consequent departureof the independent, the turbulent, and the untamed for new fields ofadventure; but its chief cause was doubtless that which lies back ofcolonizing movements in all ages, the growth of population and the needof more room.

Five centuries earlier this land-hunger had pushed the Germanic tribesacross the Rhine and Danube and produced the great wandering of thepeoples which destroyed the Roman empire; and the Viking raids weresimply a later aspect of this same *Vo"lkerwanderung*, retarded by theoutlying position of the Scandinavian lands and by the greater difficultyof migration by sea. For, unlike the Goths who swept across the map ofEurope in vast curves of marching men, or the Franks who moved forward byslow stages of gradual settlement in their occupation of Roman Gaul, theScandinavian invaders were men of the sea and migrated in ships."

--- Charles Homer Haskins, *The Normans in European History*, Boston &NY, 1915, p 26-30 passim.  From p 48 & 50:

"At this point the fundamental question forces itself upon us, how farwas Normandy affected by
Scandinavian influences?  What in race and language, in law and custom,was the contribution of the north to Normandy?  And the answer must bethat in most respects the tangible contribution was slight.  Whatever mayhave been the state of affairs in the age of colonization and settlement,by the
century which followed the Normans had become to a surprising degree
absorbed by their environment.

.....  What, then, was the Scandinavian contribution to the making ofNormandy if it was neither law nor speech nor race?  First and foremost,it was Normandy itself, created as a distinct entity by the Normanoccupation and the grant to Rollo and his followers, without whom itwould have remained an undifferentiated part of northern France. Next, anew element in the population, numerically small in
proportion to the ass, but a leaven to the whole --- quick to absorbFrankish law and Christian culture but retaining its northern qualitiesof enterprise, of daring, and of leadership.  It is no accident that thenames of the leaders in early Norman movements are largely Norse.  Andfinally a race of princes, high-handed and masteful but with a talent forpolitical organization, state-builders at home and abroad, who madeNormandy the strongest and most centralized principality in France andjoined to it a kingdom beyond the seas which became the strongest statein western Europe."

"GANGER ROLF, "the Viking" (or ROLLO), banished from Norway to theHebrides ca. 876, 890 participated in Viking attack on Bayeux, whereCount Berenger of Bayeux was killed, and dau. Poppa captured and taken,886, by Rollo (now called Count of Rouen) as his "Danish" wife.  UnderTreaty of St. Claire, 911, rec'd the Duchy of Normandy from CHARLES III,"the Simple"; d. ca. 927 (Isenburg says 931), bur. Notre Dame, Rouen.

... Note: Isenburg inserts a Robert between Rollo and William I, andmakes Robert the conqueror of
Bayeux, husb. of Poppa, and 1st Duke.  Chronology favors the descentgiven by Moriarty and Onslow.  It seems probable that Robert was anothername for Rollo.  If there really was a Robert as 1st Duke, then [ROBERTI] would be ROBERT II, which is not the case.  For additional data onWilliam II of Normandy and I of England the reader may consult David C.Douglas, *William the Conqueror* (1964).  Besides a dau. Gerloc (orAdela) who m. 935 WILLIAM I
... Count of Poitou, Ganger Rolf had [WILLIAM I, "Longsword"]."

--- Weis & Sheppard, *Ancestral Roots ... *, 7th Edition, 1992, p 110

"Rollo (Rollon, Ranger Rolf [sic, instead of Ganger], 1st Duke ofNormandy, Count of Rouen; conquered Normandy; b. c870, Maer, Norway, d.927-932; md (2) 891 Poppa de Bayeux, Duchess of Norway; b. c872, Bayeux,France; dau Berenger de Bayeux, Count of Bayeux; d. bef. 930; and N.N. ofRennes."
--- Roderick W Stuart, *Royalty for Commoners*, 2nd edn, 1992, p 123-124

The definitive establishment of the Normans, to whom the country owes itsname, took place in 911, when by the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte,concluded between King Charles the Simple of France and Rolf or Rollo,chief of the Normans, the territory comprising the town of Rouen and afew 'pagi' situated on the sea-coast was ceded to the latter; but theterms of the treaty are ill-defined, and it is consequently almostimpossible to find out the exact extent of this territory or to knowwhether Brittany was at this time made a feudal dependency of Normandy.But the chronicler Dudo of Saint-Quentin's statement that Rollo marriedGisela, daughter of Charles the Simple, must be considered to belegendary work of Dudo of Saint-Quentin [who?] is practically our onlyauthority. Rollo died in 927 and was succeeded by his son William ...
   --- (Source ???)

"Charles [the Simple], the son-in-law of Edward, constrained thereto byRollo, through a succession of calamities, conceded to him that part ofGaul which at present is called Normandy.  It would be tedious to relatefor how many years, and with what audacity, the Normans disquieted everyplace from the British ocean, as I have said, to the Tuscan sea.  FirstHasten, and then Rollo; who, born of noble lineage among the Norwegians,though obsolete from its extreme antiquity, was banished, by the king'scommand, from his own country, and brought over with multitudes, who werein danger, either from debt or consciousness of guilt, and whom he hadallured by great expectations of advantage.  Betaking himself thereforeto piracy, after his cruelty had raged on every side at pleasure, heexperienced a check at Chartres.

For the townspeople, relying neither on arms nor fortifications, piouslyimpoored the assistance of the blessed Virgin Mary.  The shift too of thevirgin, which Charles the Bald displayed to the winds on the
samparts, thronged by the garrison, after the fashion of a banner.  Theenemy on seeing it began to laught, and to direct their arrows at it.This, however, was not done with impunity; for presently their eyesbecame dim, and they could neither retreat nor advance.  The townsmen,with joy perceiving this, indulged themselves in a plentiful slaughter ofthem, as far as fortune permitted.  Rollo, however, whom God reserved forthe true faith, escaped, and soon after gained Rouen and the neighboringcities by
force of arms, in the year of our Lord 876, and one year before the deathof Charles the Bald, whose grandson Lewis, as is before mentioned,vanquished the Normans, but did not expel them; but Charles, the brotherof that Lewis, grandson of Charles the Bald, by his son Lewis, as I havesaid above, repeatedly experiencing, from unsuccessful conflicts, thatfortune gave him nothing which she took from others, resolved, afterconsulting his nobility, that it was advisable to make a show of royalmunificence, when he was unable to repel injury; and, in a friendlymanner, sent for Rollo.

He was at this time far advanced in years; and, consequently, easilyinclined to pacific measures.  It was therefore determined by treaty,that he should be baptized, and hold that country of the king as hislord.  The inbred and untameable ferocity of the man may well beimagined, for, on receiving this gift, as the by standers suggested tohim, that he ought to kiss the foot of his benefactor, disdaining tokneel down, he seized the king's foot and dragged it to his mouth as hestood erect.  The king falling on his back, the Normans began to laugh,and the Franks to be indignant; but Rollo apologized for his shamefulconduct, by saying that it was the custom of his country.  Thus theaffair being settled, Rollo returned to Rouen, and there died."

   --- William of Malmesbury, *Chronicle of the Kings of England*, c1135,
tr John Allen Giles, London (Henry G Bohn) 1847, p 125-126

"It is not known when Rollo arrived in the Viking kingdom [in Normandy].Dudo says that he took Rouen in 877, but most historians are agreed thatRollo probably did not appear in Francia until the early tenth century.The possibility exists however, that Dudo is preserving a belief thatVikings had been established in the Rouen area from about this time.Rollo is thought to have been Norwegian rather than Danish, and laterIcelandic sources identify him with Hrolf the Ganger (walker), son ofRagnvald earl of
Moer, who had a career as a Viking before settling in Francia.  Hemarried a Christian woman and his son William, according to the Lament ofWilliam Longsword, was born overseas

Alias:<ALIA> /ROLF, Duke of Normandy/
REFN: 2209
Rollo, a Norwegian Viking, also called Rolf, or Rou, French Rollon,
Scandinavian rover who founded the duchy of Normandy.  Making himself
independent of King Harald I of Norway, Rollo sailed off to raid
Scotland, England, Flanders, and France on pirating expeditions and,
about 911, established himself in an area along the Seine River.Charles
III "the Simple," of France held off his siege of Paris, battled him near
Chartres, and negotiated the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, giving Rollo
the part of Neustria that came to be called Normandy; Rollo in return
agreed to end his brigandage.  He became the first duke of Normandy.  He
gavehis son, William I Longsword, governance of the dukedom (927) before
his death. Rollo was baptized in 912 but is said to have died a pagan.
[EncyclopaediaBritannica CD, 1997, ROLLO]
Rollo, also called ROLF, or ROU, French ROLLON (b. c. 860--d. c. 932),
Scandinavian rover who founded the duchy of Normandy.
911-Under treaty of St Claire received Normandy from Charles III King of
France
Making himself independent of King Harald I of Norway, Rollo sailed off
to raid Scotland, England, Flanders, and France on pirating expeditions
and, about 911, established himself in an area along the Seine River.
Charles III the Simple of France held off his siege of Paris, battled him
near Chartres, and negotiated the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, giving
him the part of Neustria that came to be called Normandy; Rollo in return
agreed to end his brigandage. He gave his son, William I Longsword,
governance of the dukedom (927)before his death. Rollo was baptized in
912 but is said to have died a pagan.[Encyclopaedia Britannica CD, 1997,
ROLLO]
Banished from Norway to the Hebrides ca. 876.
------------------------------
The following information, arguing against Rollo's ancestry as I have it
(certainly putting it to question),is contained in a post-em by Curt
Hofemann, curt_hofemann@yahoo.com. (Note: Iam still sticking with my
ancestry, which is based on information in CP, considered a very reliable
source, though no source is perfect. I tend to want to stick up for the
Norse "legends" contained in the sagas, believing that because they are
easy targets, living in a time when there was no writing, manypeople
deny their existence, holding them to the same standard as say
"Charlemagne" or other historic figures who were written about by
contemporaries.):
I apologize in advance for the length of this.
Rollo "the Ganger" 1st Dukeof NORMANDY
911: Duke of Normandy [Ref: Paget p135]
properly Hrolf; known from his stature as Gongu-Hrolf, 'Rolf the walker'
because no horse could carryhim [Ref: Watney p740]
name: Rolf the Ganger [Ref: Tapsell p202]
911-932: Duke of Normandy [Ref: Tapsell p202]
born: 846 [Ref: Moriarty p10] abt 846 [Ref:ES II:79, Moriarty p11,
Watney #740], parents: [Ref: Moriarty p10, Moriarty p11, Paget p135,
Watney #740]
married Poppa 886: danish wife [Ref: Moriarty p10] first and third wives
of Rollo, repudiated but afterward remarried after919 [Ref: Paget p135],
names: [Ref: Henry Project citing (Eric Christiansen,ed. & trans., Dudo
of St. Quentin, History of the Normans (The Boydell Press,Woodbridge,
Suffolk, 1998), Book ii Chapter 16 p38-9; Keats-Rohan, K. S. B.,"Poppa
of Bayeux and her Family", The American Genealogist 72 (1997), 187-204),
Moriarty p11, p226, 39 Tompsett, Wurts p422]
married Gisele of France 912: [Ref: ES II:79, Paget p135]
died: 933 [Ref: ES II:75new] 927 [Ref: Watney 740] 931 [Ref: ES II:79,
Moriarty p10, Moriarty p11] 932 [Ref: Paget p135, Tapsell p202] 931 [Ref:
Wurts p422]
Rolf, known to his Frankish posterity as Rollo, was probably born of
Norwegian stock, being the son of Rognvald, Earl ofMore, and before his
formal establishment in Gaul he had a long career as aViking, raiding
not only in France but also, as

pg 6 & 7, "The Plantagenet Ancestry" by W. H. Turton, published 1928

Jim Weber  <jimweber@nwintl.com>

Please send ANY errors, or extensions by E-mail, as I can't trace anything by Post-em. If the name you want is not in this data base, I don't have it.  Sorry